History was made yesterday when, for the first time ever, The Hills fielded 11 youth players in an adult senior game. Opponents on the day were Balbriggan Fifth X1 and the T20 cup match was played at Ringcommons CC. A minutes silence was observed to honour Frances Harper of Balbriggan CC who passed away yesterday.
Captain for the day Joseph Russell won the toss and elected to bat first. The Hills innings got off to the worst possible start with two wickets falling in the first 3 balls. Joseph and Hayden Clinton steadied the ship and batted sensibly to build a partnership of 87 runs in 14 overs before Hayden departed for 20 having punished any loose bowling.
Joseph scored his first senior half century, carrying his bat to end on a chanceless 60 not out. A cameo of 12 by Peter Stead helped to set Balbriggan a tough target of 132 to win.
The Balbriggan openers started well before a mix up resulted in a well-executed run out. The Hills bowlers then got on top and leg spinner Tristan Vincenzo bowled exceptionally well to take 4-9 off 3 overs. The other wickets were shared between Alan Courell jr (1-17), Chris Francis (2-2), Max Brophy (1-6) and Max Stead (1-15).
Balbriggan were bowled out for 58 resulting in a 73 run win for The Hills.
This was a strong and mature performance from a team with an average age of 14. It will be exciting to watch these players filter into the 4th, 3rds, 2nds and 1sts over the next few seasons.
Next up is another T20 cup match, this time away to Swords on Sunday 19th at 5pm.
Photo by Michael Donoghue
Team: Joseph Russell (c), Max Brophy, Hayden Clinton, Alan Courell jr, Conor Donoghue, Chris Francis, Nathan Maguire, Peter Stead, Max Stead, Tristan Vincenzo, Brandon Vincenzo
